Criticism
by Cellophane Rainbows
Summary: Sometimes you just need to accept criticism from the people you care about. But knowing Ikki he would just get into some pointless fight. Ikki x Kazu


"So what's that supposed to mean?" Kazu growled.

"It means that you should try stepping out from my shadow, instead of hiding behind it like some poor creature." Ikki retorted, eyes blazing "I'm sick of hearing how great I am, tell that to yourself"

Kazu flinched back as if he had been slapped. He couldn't believe the words he was hearing nor could he believe that he and Ikki were having this conversation. In all his life he never would have thought that he and Ikki could ever hate each other so much over such a thing. Yet here they were barely being able to control their urges to kill one another. Kazu lowered his hat over his eyes and turned around and muttered "Fuck you" before becoming a human blur.

Ikki watched as Kazu sped away and fought the urge to run after him. He was trying to convince himself that Kazu was wrong and that he had been right. Yet he knew his argument was a cheap shot considering Kazu had only been trying to be a friend. Everything was screaming at him that he should go after Kazu and apologize but he couldn't. Ikki numbly ran his hand through his hair. _How am I going to get out of this one?_

* * *

It was another rainy day. The rain spluttered onto the cold asphalt and turned into a large ugly puddle. Kazu turned his eyes up to the sky as if to ask it if he had done anything wrong to deserve this week of ugly weather. He shook his head and turned his thoughts back to the contest Kogarasumaru recently had.

_It wasn't like he hadn't seen Ikki battle before. It's just that he had never seen Ikki so angry while he battled. He had watched in awe as Ikki had brutally beaten the other team, not even smiling after they had won. Ikki had bent to comfort the child that was crying. He had watched as Ikki told something to the little boy, which made the child's flowing tears fall into a soft whimper. Kazu had then turned his attention back to the remaining children and got to work._

_The children had told Kogarasumaru about how the other AT team had been getting them to custom build their AT's, beating them if they didn't fit the exact orders they were given. They had told them of the cold work house they lived in and how it smelled of urine, of the small amount of food, and how a recent event had claimed a lot of their lives due to exhaustion. They couldn't wait for the orphanage they had said._

That had been two days ago and now Kazu was going to try and cheer Ikki up. He had been doing nothing recently, calling off practice and not talking to anyone. Kazu rang the doorbell and was then greeted by Ringo's worried eyes. She silently let him in and pointed to the direction were Ikki was. Kazu nodded, then ran up the stairs and burst into Ikki's room.

Ikki was sprawled on his bed, eyes staring at the blank wall. He turned his head to look at the most recent visitor only to see his scowling friend. It took a minute for him to realize that Kazu was scowling at him and not at something else.

"What's up, Kazu?" Ikki sighed.

"Get your ass out of bed already. It's not raining that hard so we can go AT around the park for a little while" Kazu said "It might do you some good instead of moping around"

Ikki rolled off his bed and looked out the window. True, it wasn't raining hard and he hadn't got any exercise recently. But all he could think about were those annoying kids, with their dead eyes. When he had heard them talk something in him had snapped. _Ringo says something in me snapped. I'd say more like broke._

"Whatever" Ikki muttered as he walked out of his room to the door, and bent to put on his AT's.

Kazu nodded his head and switched his dirty sneakers with his own pair of AT's before heading out the door to follow Ikki.

"Ikki you need to get a grip" Kazu said as soft as he could "Those kids will be fine now, you helped them a lot." _Unlike me_, _you didn't freeze at the sorry state those kids were in. Unlike me, you showed the other team that Kogarasumaru isn't just some team. _"You were awesome".

Ikki cringed inwardly. He knew what Kazu wasn't saying. He could practically hear those unspoken words that were full of self doubt on Kazu's part.

"Ya I was awesome wasn't I?" Ikki boasted. His tone, however, was dull and flat. Not at all like the usual Ikki.

Kazu's heart sank as he heard the tone of voice. The words sounded like the Ikki he was used to but that's were all the similarities ended.

"You really were Ikki" Kazu agreed "The other team practically ran away in fear".

"You weren't half bad yourself, Kazu" Ikki grinned for a moment "You should have seen their faces when they realized that they had no chance of catching you"

_That's about all I can do though. Run around and dodge whatever is thrown at me_. Kazu lowered his hat so Ikki wouldn't see his thoughts. He skated forward making Ikki speed up so they could still be side by side.

"Well, you were awesome" Kazu sighed after a long period of silence.

Ikki stopped suddenly, making Kazu abruptly halt. He turned to face Kazu and grabbed him by the front of his hoodie.

"Just stop it already" Ikki yelled.

Kazu's eyes widened and stared blankly at Ikki. _What did I do?_

"Wow, Ikki, no need to lose it" Kazu murmured as he tried in vain to release himself from Ikki's grip.

"I'm not losing it" Ikki growled "You're just being an Idiot and fucking thinking that whatever you do isn't good enough. Stop it alright?!"

Kazu took a moment to gather his thoughts and reminded himself that Ikki hasn't been himself lately.

"If that's what you want "Kazu replied "Anyhow the next practice is tomorrow so you better be there"

Ikki watched Kazu leave then turned himself into the direction of home. He knew that he had snapped for no reason at Kazu. He also knew that they would never speak of it again. _I'm such an asshole at times. All he had been doing was trying to help._

The sun was finally deciding to make an appearance when the team had started to practice the next day. It warmed their faces and gave them all a little boost in their mood. Everyone had been a bit down since meeting those kids and the weather had not been helping.

Onigiri and Buccha were now sitting on the side lines eating, Kazu was still doing a few laps, the girls had left a while ago to go shopping , Agito was watching Kazu AT, and Ikki was still skipping practice.

"Hey, Kazu" Agito called after a little while.

Kazu skated over to the spot the smaller rider was sitting. He didn't really feel like having a confrontation with Agito at the moment, especially as he was pissed off with Ikki for not coming. He came to a stop in front of Agito and crossed his arms, waiting for a reply.

"Normally I wouldn't ask a little shit like you to go talk to him, but it seems that Ikki listens to you better than any other piece of shit around here" Agito smirked.

"And why should I go talk to him?" Kazu retorted "Ikki is a big boy, he can do what he wants".

"You'll talk to him because if you don't we will never get any better" Agito growled "That little asshole claims to be the leader so he should act like the leader".

Kazu grimaced and nodded his head. He knew what Agito was saying was true. He was just a bit to pissed off with Ikki though to just go and talk to him. He wouldn't admit it but Ikki had hit a nerve yesterday when he had lost it. Kazu waved to Buccha and Onigiri then took one last look at Agito. The other boy looked more tired than usual. Obviously he had been affected as well by the recent events._ Amazing he has a heart. Well I guess I always knew that under all his remarks he is just a big softie._

Ikki was staring at the sky when he heard the familiar sound of AT's. He turned his head and sure enough there was Kazu looking quite annoyed. _I knew he would be the one to come see me. He always is._

"Before you say anything, I just didn't feel like going to practice today" Ikki sighed "But remember that AT team? Well we have a match with them tomorrow night. So go and tell everyone".

Before Kazu got to even say a word Ikki was skating on the rooftops, heading home.

"Alright team, this is the place" Ikki addressed his sour faced companions.

Kazu and the rest of the team looked around. This was one of the worse off parts of town with the buildings crumbling, beer bottles everywhere, and the smell of smoke in every corner. They all had the feeling that they should get out of here as fast as they could, but knew if they did Ikki would murder them.

A raspy chuckle was heard and a tall and lanky man stepped out of the shadows. Behind him stood five other men, bodies built like tanks. The tall man seemed to be the only one from the team with any ounce of brains and Kazu immediately realized that they were dealing with someone who was capable of murder.

"Well just look at what came running back to us" The man spoke in a gravelly voice "Allow me to introduce myself, the name is Akuma and these are my boys".

"We left something unsettled didn't we?" Ikki barked, fists clenched.

"So we did" Akuma smiled.

Akuma snapped his fingers and his "boys" each brought out their choice of weapon. Kazu counted two thick metal chains and three knives. He swallowed and looked at his team mates. Except for Ikki and Agito they all looked nervous. He turned his head around only to see a metal chain barely miss his head. At that Kogarasumaru and Akuma's team began having their "AT" fight.

Kazu surveyed the remains of the hour long fight. Onigiri had a black eye and a split lip, Buccha had a few nasty cuts and bruises but was helping up Onigiri so they both should be fine. Agito was cursing about his probably sprained wrist and Ikki was inspecting his own ribs. Kazu shook his head and tried to apply more weight on his right foot. He winced and quickly shifted his weight so the foot could rest. He could feel a few cuts and he was sure he had a broken rib but he had expected way worse.

"Let's head home" Ikki everyone numbly heard him say.

Everyone nodded at him and skated off in their own direction. Only one person stayed. Ikki rolled over and put his arm around the blonde. He could tell the boy had a sprained ankle and didn't want to leave him alone in this neighborhood. He was surprised when the other boy shrugged him off harshly and gingerly started to AT back home. He blinked and slowly followed the other boy. By Kazu's posture Ikki could tell that he was fighting to control his emotions so he didn't say anything. Even with a hurt ankle Kazu still skated faster than most, so soon they were back in their own neighborhood. Kazu suddenly stopped and Ikki was forced to stop as well.

"You don't think do you?" Kazu spat.

Ikki was surprised by the tone of voice. He was less surprised when Kazu entered his house and slammed the door. Ikki skated slowly back home to treat his own words. He got a text message and looked casually at the message he knew would be from Kazu We got 2 talk tomorrow morning at 9.

In the morning Ikki skated over to Kazu's home. He was still trying to wake himself fully up, even though he had fallen asleep as soon as he hit the bed and had not dreamt at all he felt like he had tossed and turned all night. He was about to ring the doorbell when the door opened, and an angry Kazu stepped out. He motioned for Ikki to follow him then skated off into the direction of the park.

When they reached there Kazu turned to face Ikki.

"What the fuck was last night?" Kazu hissed "You bring us there with no warning and not to even mention the fight was pointless. Akuma isn't in control of those kids anymore so we should have left well enough alone"

Ikki stared open mouth at the blonde so Kazu took this as an invitation to go on.

"It wasn't enough that you had barley seemed to care whether we had gotten hurt, you also made us seem like a fucking weak team" Kazu growled, jabbing his finger into Ikki's chest "If you say you're the leader, act like the leader".

Ikki pushed Kazu's hand away. He wasn't exactly sure what to say at this sudden attack. So he decided to attack back.

"Ya, well what about you?" Ikki smirked "Always thinking you're not good enough. I'm the leader cause no one else IS good enough, but I never said that you're not good enough to be part of the team."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Kazu yelled "You are so hung up over one little incident. You aren't the only one who was affected. You're not the only person on the face of this planet, Ikki"

"I'm not hung up if that's what you think" Ikki retorted "At least I'm not a little sissy, hiding away from the world in someone else's shadow.

* * *

Kazu only stopped after he had gone a good enough length to get away from Ikki. He couldn't believe what Ikki had just said. It hurt like hell to have his best friend insult him like that, not to mention he had only being trying to help Ikki. He sat gingerly down and took off the AT on his right foot. The ankle was beginning to hurt again. _I better rest for a bit before I try to go anywhere. _

Ikki stood looking at the direction Kazu had skated off to. He replied his actions for the last couple of weeks over and over in his mind. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to shoot himself. Ikki accelerated in the direction Kazu had gone. _Even if I don't know what to say, I have to find him and make him listen to my apology._

Kazu turned his head and when he saw Ikki was coming closer he tried to get up. He quickly fell back down since he didn't have his AT's on and besides that his ankle had protested right away. Kazu turned his head up as Ikki's shadow fell on him. _Just like always I'm behind his shadow, not beside it._

Ikki bent down and looked at what seemed like forever into Kazu's eyes. The crow saw just how much his words had hurt his best friend. The knowledge sent a twang to his heart, reminding him that it had not yet broken. On an impulse he would never have acted on until now, he leaned forward and very lightly kissed Kazu. He felt Kazu stiffen, unsure whether to push Ikki away or to act at all. Ikki broke the kiss slowly and sat down beside the shocked Kazu.

"I'm sorry, Kazu" Ikki spoke softly "I know what you said was true, about me not being a leader. I just didn't want to admit at the time, and you're right that was a pointless fight."

Ikki took a pause and from the corners of his eyes looked to see if Kazu was listening. Satisfied, he continued.

"I just want you to realize that you aren't second best. We might not be the same but we are on the same team. It hurts me too when you are so full of self doubt."

Kazu allowed himself to relax. He knew this was about the entire apology he was going to get from Ikki.

"That was really cheesy" Kazu smirked at Ikki.

The crow scowled at being interrupted but then grinned when he realized he had been forgiven. He knew he would even if he had only said he was sorry. Ikki draped an arm over Kazu's shoulder.

"Even the kiss?"

Ikki smirked at the blush that was creeping into Kazu's face. The blonde was really cute, and he had to admit he had always noticed Kazu more than anyone else. He had been tired of Simca a long while ago, and he and Ringo could never be more then friends. Maybe it was time to admit he wasn't as straight as he had always painted himself to be.

"Well, that was less cheesy then the words" Kazu admitted softly.

Ikki grinned and took Kazu's chin with his spare hand. He kissed Kazu first gently, then roughly after Kazu started to kiss back. Ikki pulled Kazu down making sure that they didn't break their kiss for too long.

After a while Kazu broke the kiss, feeling light headed from the lack of air. He smiled softly at Ikki then turned himself over, so he was lying on his back. Ikki squirmed close and wrapped an arm around the slightly smaller boy and kissed his hair. He wouldn't admit it but Kazu was right once again, the kiss was less cheesy then the words.


End file.
